


Reunion

by ZeoNyph



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:22:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25376854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeoNyph/pseuds/ZeoNyph
Summary: Sometime after 'The Final Season', Louis and AJ scout the mysterious new caravan, only to find more than what they expected.
Relationships: Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), Lee Everett/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 95





	1. The Caravan

**Author's Note:**

> Choices made:
> 
> Clem left Lee behind.  
> Clem entered Wellington with AJ.  
> Clem saved and romanced Louis.  
> Clem allowed AJ to make the hard calls.

“Hey, Louis?”

The dread-locked boy looked at AJ as they both walked through the forest, with Louis hoisting Chairles on his shoulder, and AJ inspecting his revolver. After the Delta was dealt with, life at Ericson’s was slowly starting to return to normal. With Clementine recovering from her leg being chopped off, and Violet slowly getting used to her eyesight, the world slowly started to regain a sense of peacefulness.

Of course, after he and Aasim spotted another group of survivors in a caravan, it all came crumbling down. So here they are now, with Clem asking Louis and AJ to scout them out, and report back to determine whether they were a threat.

“Yeah, little man. What’s up?” he replied. Louis was slowly getting fond of AJ, despite what he did with Marlon, and started to take a liking to him as the days went by. Clem looked happy to see AJ making friends.

“What exactly is this… c-car-cara-” AJ asked as he stumbled on his words.

“The caravan?” Louis said.  _ Of course he doesn’t know what a caravan is,  _ he mused.  _ Poor kid wasn’t born back then. _ “Think about it like… a home on wheels, so to speak.”

“So… a car then? I don’t think a lot of people can stay in a car. Me and Clem barely had any space as it was in the car we had.”

“Right… the one that Clem crashed near the train station?”Louis couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for AJ.  _ Must have been a tough time out there. “ _ Though I’d say the caravan’s probably larger, like a little smaller than a room, but with everything, like a sink with water, beds, and toilets, all in one.”

“Oh… that’s a great idea!” AJ exclaimed. “But how do  _ you _ know what a caravan looks like?”

“Uh...me and my dad used to go camping in one of those. It cost a lot, but it was… alright.”  _ Not as fun, but at least the views were good. _

“But Clem said that you’d use tents, and make fires, and eat snores if you were camping.”

Louis chuckled. “It’s smores, not snores, little man. And you do camp like that as well. Hell, I wanted to camp like that, enjoy the breeze, feel the ground, hear the silence, stuff like that.”

“But…”

“My dad didn’t like ‘writhing around in the mud’ or something like that. Probably thought he was too rich to camp.”

AJ thought that over in his head, as they kept walking.

“Do you miss your dad, Louis?” 

He had to admit, that question caught him off guard.  _ Did he miss his dad? _ It was… hard to say. On one hand, he still regrets breaking up his dad’s marriage, before he really knew what life was like. On the other, he fears that there’s a part of him that’s still vindictive as he was all those years ago, hating his dad for throwing him out into somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

“Louis?” AJ asked, concerned by his silence,

“I do. Both him and mom. Every day.” he replied, a hint of guilt and sadness on his face.

AJ must have sensed it though, since he didn’t continue talking about it; instead, he changed the subject.

“Do you think the people at the caravan are good?” he asked.

“We won’t know for sure, AJ. The last time we met another group...well, you know what happened.”

He nodded in reply, understanding what he meant.

“I bet they won’t all be like monsters though. Do you feel that way, Louis?”

“God, I hope so.”

Suddenly, AJ stopped. Louis was confused, and was about to ask why, but AJ stopped him.

“Do you hear that?” he asked.

Straining his ears, the older boy was surprised to hear voices to his right, albeit muffled.  _ Must be the caravan then. They’re closer than we thought. _

“Looks like we’re here. You have those binoculars Clem gave you?” Louis asked AJ.

“Yeah.” he replied, handing it over.

They moved closer, trying to get a clear view of the caravan. As they got closer, the voices were starting to become clearer.

“-oughta be something out here.” a man was saying. Looking through the binoculars, Louis saw that he wore a white shirt and a green coat, and was holding a rifle.

“C’mon, look around, man.” replied a blonde woman, who was dressed in a similar fashion, albeit with a red jacket. “It’s all fucking trees out here. Nobody in their right mind would be here.”

“You’re a real optimist, alright. Where are the others?” the man asked the woman. ”They should be back from patrol by now. Got a few more hours ‘fore sunset rolls in.”

“Hold on, I’ll radio ‘em.” the woman replied, grabbing a walkie-talkie holstered on her belt.

“They look dangerous, Louis.” AJ said, fear covering his face. _ I can definitely agree with that one, _ thought Louis _. Better get out and report back to Clem. _

“Yeah.” he whispered back, his voice dripping with concern. “Let’s get outta here before things get hai-”

“ _ Patrol, you there? Over.” _

Louis froze.

_ For fuck’s sake Louis, you could have used your damn ears. _

He heard the sound of cloth rustling as he slowly turned around, finding a man holding them at gunpoint, and another one-armed man stowing his hatchet away to grab the radio. The first guy wore a black leather eyepatch, with a grey jacket and black denim jeans. The other guy wore a beanie and a beard, with a leather jacket and blue jeans.  _ This guy’s really going for the biker look, isn’t he? _

“This is Patrol. Over. What’s the situation?”

From the corner of his eye, he noticed that AJ was slowly reaching for his revolver. __

_ Goddamnit, AJ. _

The elder boy quickly shook his head at AJ, who immediately stopped reaching for his gun. _ I promised Clem that I’d keep you safe, and I’m sure as hell not breaking it anytime soon. _

“W _ e gotta get outta here before sundown, Patrol. Report back immediately. Over _ .”

“Copy that, over.” the one-armed man replied, putting back the radio, and pulling out his pistol, motioning for the both of them to stand up.

“Hand over any weapons you might have.” he asks Louis. “Just wanna be safe, is all. We don’t mean any trouble.”

“I don’t know… are you sure we can trust you?” Louis replied. They don’t seem like bad people, but they don’t seem good either; guess they’ll have to find out.

“Don’t worry, kid. You and your… uh… he your son?” the other man asked, clearly confused.

_ Oh...that wasn’t what I expected at all. _

Louis half-expected AJ to say something, but he stood silent. _ Looks like it's up to me then. _

“Uh.. n-no? He ain’t mine, so to speak. His parents are long gone, and our leader raised him.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry ‘bout that. It sure is a tough fucking world out here. ‘Leader’, you say? You part of a group?” the other man asked.

Louis cursed himself mentally.  _ Might as well.  _ “Yeah, we’re at a boarding school not far from here. Our headmaster ran off as soon as shit went down. We were alone out here, but… we made it work.”

_ Something Marlon did right at least. _

“Shit. Sorry to hear that. Just a bunch of kids? No adults?”

“Yeah...just us.”

“Hmm… anyway, why come scout us out?” the biker-looking man said.  _ I really need to get their names; I can’t keep callin’ em ‘one armed man’ and ‘other man’ forever. _

“We wanted to see whether you were a threat or not. Last time another group showed up, things... didn’t go out so well.” AJ replied, somewhat hesitantly.

“Like I said, you can trust us. We mean no harm.” the other man said. “Y’know what? As a sign of good faith, we’ll introduce ya to the folks at the caravan, see if your community can trade. It’s part o’ the reason why we’re out here, you see.”

_ Huh. Clem did say we were running out of meds and ammo, but I should probably check in with her. _

“I might have to consider the trading bit with our leader, but we can meet your folks… if that’s fine with you.” Louis said, gesturing towards the one armed man.

“Yeah, it’s no problem. I think it’s best if we introduce ourselves.”

“I’m Lee, and this here is Kenny.”

* * *


	2. The Caravan II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and AJ meet the caravan

_ Holy shit. _

AJ must have had the same thought too, because he looked at Louis with wide eyes that implied realization.

_ But then… Clem said Lee was bit. So how is he here now?  _ From what he had gathered, Lee told Clem to leave him behind, and she never looked back. And in Kenny’s case, she left him to enter a community with AJ that ended up burnt and shot down.  _ She had to go through all that?  _ was his first thought when she first told him the whole story. From her Macon days to the siege of Richmond, she didn’t leave out a single detail as she recalled everything to Louis and AJ while she recovered from her leg… or lack thereof. 

Even his parents.

Lee must have noticed this, for he asked Louis: “Everything alright?”

Dragged out of his inner turmoil, Louis looked at Lee and gave a thumbs up.

“No probs at all, uh… Lee, right?”

“Yeah. Alright then. Let’s go meet the others.” Lee replied, not entirely convinced at what Louis said.

As they walked towards the caravan, the woman noticed Lee along with him and AJ and pointed her rifle at them.

“Woah, Alice, relax! They’re with us!” Kenny exclaimed, motioning for the woman to holster her rifle. It was clear that they weren’t really  _ that  _ trusting of strangers these days.  _ The feeling’s mutual then. _

“Shit, sorry! My bad… needed to be sure, y’know.” Alice replied, holstering her weapon with a sign of guilt.

“No worries, hun. They don’t mean no harm… do you, kid?” Lee stated.

_ ‘Hun’? _

“Uh...no.” he replied, with a slight twinge of fear. “Not unless you want me to.”

Lee laughs.

“I’m liking this kid already, Ken!” he says. “Anyway, meet Alice. She’s our medic, or one of the best medics we have back at our community.”

“Hey there, kids.” Alice said cheerfully, nodding her head towards Louis. “Looks like we did find something after all, Lee.”

“We did, hun.” Lee replied, giving Alice a quick peck on the lips. 

Kenny looks around before asking Alice: “Where’s Damien?”

“Right here, man.” the man - Damien - said, walking towards him and looking at Louis and AJ. “I didn’t know we were having company.”

“Found ‘em scoping us out.” Kenny said, turning to Louis. “Don’t worry your head about it, kid. We’ve had a rough year with strangers, so we’d have done the same thing as well.”

“Alright then, Ken. I better go back and check our supplies, make sure we’re ready to go back.” Damien says. “Al, help me out here, will ya?”

“Sure. See you soon, hun.” Alice said, before running off to help Damien with the supplies.

“If I may ask… who did you have it rough with?” Louis asked Kenny.  _ Wouldn’t hurt to know, right? _

“We were at war with a community. Called themselves the Delta.” he replied. “Used to be run by this bitch, Lilly.” 

_ Wait, what? _

“We lost a lot of people to those bastards. About a month ago, we intercepted chatter that their recruitment ship, the Fitzgerald, was destroyed by another group. After that, they were weak. Just a few days ago, we liberated the last outpost they were at. Hiding like rats, the lot of ‘em.”

Kenny paused, sighing deeply. Through his eyes, Louis saw what could only be described as an amalgamation of horror and rage.

He continued. “You should have seen the fucked up shit they were doing...it’s still in my goddamn head.” He looks sick now, something clearly being recalled. “They were torturing so many kids, brainwashing them until they fought and died like a bunch ‘a loyal  _ dogs. _ ”

“It was like the goddamn Holocaust just seeing that place. I’m getting sick thinking about it.” Lee chimed in. “Glad those bastards are gone now.”

At that moment, Alice comes in, looking at Louis. “Hey, if you don’t mind, can I borrow the little one? Need some help, is all.”

Louis looks at AJ, who gives him a look that says _ I can handle it. _

“Sure.” he says, as AJ walks over. “Take care of him will ya?”

“Alright.” replies Alice, as she takes AJ away.

Lee watches Alice and AJ go out of sight, before looking at Kenny. 

“I need a drink, Lee. Ya mind if I get some of your bourbon?” Kenny asks.

“Sure.” he replies, grabbing a steel flask from his pocket. “Don’t drink it all like last time, though.”

“I’ll try.” Kenny jokes, before joining the others to help.

Lee looked back at Louis, noting his silence.  _ Better speak up, before he notices. Change the subject, you idiot. _

“So, where is your community now?” Louis asks.

“Before I answer that, you mind telling me how you knew the Delta?” Lee questions, dodging the change in subject.

_ Well, shit. _

“That obvious, huh?”

Lee nods in reply. 

“Our first leader, Marlon, traded two of our own with the Delta. Covered it up by saying that they got killed by walkers.” he starts, a little hesitantly.

Lee notices this as well, since he asks Louis whether he really wants to continue.

“No, no. It’s fine.”

“Alright then. Go on, I’m listening.”

Louis pauses, as if to gather his thoughts, before continuing. “He hid the truth from us for a year, until we found out what he’d done. He was my best  _ goddamn  _ friend, and he betrayed us all.”

Lee senses the hurt and anger in Louis’ voice, and lets him calm down before he continues to speak.

“Then, they came back with Lilly, and tried to kidnap us all. We put up a fight, and they retreated. But they still took away some of us, back to their boat.”

“Don’t tell me-”

“Yeah, that boat thing was us. We got our people back, in the end.”

“Holy shit, kid. You guys sure have some balls.” Lee said, clearly surprised at his story.

“That’s what I keep telling myself. I feel like I almost lost ‘em.” Louis joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Lee chuckled, placing a hand on Louis’ shoulder. “I like you, kid. And I’m sorry for that shit with the Delta. You deserved better.” he says, switching to a more solemn tone.

“It's alright, Lee, you don’t have to be.” 

Lee looked around before sighing. “It’s getting dark out here. Better go back, before they start worrying.” he said.

“Yeah, so should we. And the trade?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, we’ll be back here tomorrow. Bring your leader over, and we’ll make a deal.” he replies, as the others come back to Lee.

“Y’know, you never did tell us your names, the two of you.” Kenny says, looking at Louis. “It’s fine, you don’t have to say it. But we told you our names, so the choice is up to you.”

_ Shit.  _ Louis was hoping that he wouldn’t have to do that. He already knows that Kenny, and most likely Lee, know who AJ is. It’s only a choice on whether he should say AJ’s name or lie about it.

_ I guess I probably shouldn’t. Not yet at least. _

“Oh, sorry about that.” he starts. “I’m Louis, and this… is Carl Junior, or CJ, if you prefer.”

AJ looks at Louis, understanding in his eyes.  _ Looks like he thought of the same thing. We really are alike, huh? _

Lee looks at AJ, before turning back to Louis. “Alright then, Louis. We’ll see you tomorrow with the leader. Hope you get back safe.”

As Louis and AJ turn to leave, he swore he could hear Lee saying something.

“They remind me of Clem, Kenny. I’d do anything to see her again…”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hold on guys, we're getting there!


	3. The Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee meets Alice for the first time, and he finds that, like it or not, he's a survivor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long!

_ **8 YEARS EARLIER** _

_ “You can leave me. It’s okay.” _

_ “You’ll be just like them.” _

_ Teary eyes looking at him, with a weeping voice. _

_ “It’s ok. It won’t be me.” _

_ Crying eyes look back at him. _

_ She leaves, and he feels himself slowly reaching the end. _

**_Closed eyes._ **

_ There’s light ahead of him. _

_ This is it. The end.  _ I’m sorry, Clementine. __

_ She will survive. He knows it. _

_ The light engulfs him fully. _

_ And then darkness takes over. _

* * *

“The fuck happened here?”

The voice echoes in Lee’s head. He hears footsteps moving towards him, and then cloth rustling.

“Damn, you’re still alive… I gotta get you outta here. Stay tight.”

_ Goddamn, it hurts like hell.  _ The world was a blur of darkness, but Lee could see a shape moving wildly around the place, as it muttered  _ keys, keys, where’s the key? _

_ “There we go…” _

The voice sounded like a woman’s, but each effort to try to clear his vision caused a persistent throbbing in his head, like a hammer being swung on his head.  _ Make it stop, please. It fucking hurts. _

He must have thought out loud, for the woman looked at him with sympathy. 

“Shit. You’re gonna be fine.” 

As darkness slowly engulfed Lee, the shape moved to unlock the handcuffs that left Lee clung to the radiator.

“Clementine…” he mumbled, before darkness was all he saw.

* * *

“Uhh...shit. That hurts…” Lee groans. The floor felt… soft? Last time he remembered, the floor was marbled; cold. Last time he remembered, he was dying. Last time he remembered, he told Clem to leave him behind, for she didn’t deserve the guilt of shooting him.

So why is he here? Is this Purgatory? 

_ Last time I checked, Purgatory ain’t exactly comforting,  _ he thought.

He opened his eyes.

The world no longer was dark, and it was no longer cold and blue. The ceiling was white and bright. Nothing like where he was supposed to die.

So did he...live? Despite everything that’s happened, despite losing his arm, and despite the _ bite,  _ he was still here? 

No. That’s impossible. He was dying. He  **_felt_ ** it. Lee Everett should have been lost to the goddamn dust, should have been left behind as only a husk of what he used to be, should have lived on in the memories of those that had met him and saw the good in him.

He should have been  **_dead._ **

Looking at his stump, he finds that it’s bandages have been replaced. _ And it hurts like hell too. _

As he moves to get up, his hand suddenly recoils back. Looking at his hand, he finds it tied to the bed’s frame by a strong knot of rope. Looks like the guy (or gal) took some precautions in case he didn’t make it.

“Fuuuck.” he says. _No way can I remove the rope by brute force._ _I need something sharp._

Looking around, he sees that he’s in an apartment. To his left, there’s a drawer with a first aid kit, some bloodied bandages, and a knife with scorch marks covering the blade.

_ Bingo. _

Just as he reaches to grab the knife, the door opens, revealing a blonde woman wearing a blue jacket and a plain shirt underneath. A pistol is holstered on the belt of her leather jeans, and she wears combat boots that are slightly muddied, giving her a badass sort of look.

“Hey, easy there.” she says, looking at Lee. “Don’t mean to hurt you.” Her voice was soft.

“Sorry.” he replied, wincing in pain as he looks back at his stump.

She noticed it too, because she looked at Lee with sympathy.

“You were in pretty bad shape when I found you cuffed to the radiator. With that dead officer next to you, I’d say that you were probably arrested for theft, hmm?”

Lee chuckled. Here he was, tied up in somebody’s home, the closest thing he had to a daughter missing, a beautiful woman next to him, and he still can take a joke.

_ ‘Beautiful’? Where’d that come from? _

“You wish.” he replied, smiling at the woman. “Name’s Lee.”

“Alice. Though most call me Al.”

“So… Al. You mind if you can get this rope off me?”

She blushed. “Shit, sorry about that. Hold on.” she says, running over and grabbing the knife.

Lee sighs in relief as the rope is cut off, and gets off the bed.

“How long was I out?” he asked, looking at Alice, and then his stump.

“A day. You lost a lot of blood from that stump over there. Had to cauterize it.”

_ Huh. Should have done that. _

“Yeah, we were kinda in a hurry when chopping my arm off. Bandaging was the only choice.” 

“‘We’? You part of a group?” she asked, curious as to where he’d come from.

“Was. Came all the way from Macon. Everyone’s either dead or long gone.” he replied, reminiscing his time in the motor inn. Even when Kenny and Lilly had their bickering over power, it was a time of calm and peace.

And Carley… he’d never forget the moment where her blood splattered across his shirt as she fell to the floor, dead by Lilly’s hands. They lost two that day, one whose body was thrown into the bushes with no goodbyes or burials, and the other who was left behind as punishment for cold blooded murder.

“Hey, you ok?” Alice asked, concerned. “Didn’t mean to bring up old memories.”

“Nah, it’s fine. What’s happened has happened. It’s only the ‘now’ we have to worry about.”

“Amen to that. Now, c’mon. I gotta get you some food. You must be famished.”

* * *

“I’m surprised that there’s meat around these parts.” Lee says as he eats the stew Alice made. They were in the living room of one of the nearby apartments, with Lee and Alice seated on the table. The place looks just as worn down as any other house, albeit a little cleaner (no doubt thanks to Alice’s efforts).

“You and me both. Thank god for preservatives!” she replies, laughing. “It’s almost stupid to think how much meat was left behind when the cities got ransacked.”

He laughs back, finishing up his stew. “Thanks for the help, Alice. But I have to go.” he says, standing up and turning to leave.

Alice stands up as well, looking at Lee with worry. “No! You can’t! Not yet at least.”

“You don’t understand, Alice. I have to go out there and find someone.”

In reply, she looks down, her features unreadable. It must have been an eternity before she answered.

“I understand. The reason I was here in the first place was to find my sister, Kyra. We were separated at the start, and I’ve been searching ever since.” she said, eyes now looking at Lee.

“Family is a fickle thing, Lee. Sometimes, it’s the only difference between life and death.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” he replied, looking regretful. 

The silence that stood between them might as well have lasted forever, if Lee hadn’t spoken.

“Before you found me, I was with a girl. Clementine. We both thought I was gonna turn, but I didn’t want to kill myself, and I sure as hell didn’t want to give her the honors; I shouldn’t have to be her first kill. So I told her to leave me. That’s when I passed out.”

He paused.

“She was the closest thing I ever had to a daughter, Alice. She might not be blood, but she sure as hell is family. And I’m not leaving her alone.” he says, finally, and picks up his cleaver from a nearby countertop before heading for the door.

Before he could turn the doorknob, however, he heard Alice moving behind him.

“I’m coming too.’ she says, looking at Lee with resolve. “You can’t go out there alone. And besides, I still have to search for Kyra, and I can’t do that by staying here.”

Lee turns to look at Alice, and for a moment, he doesn’t react. Then, he smiles.

“Welcome to the team, Alice.” he replies, before he opens the door.

They set out together to survive, and maybe, just maybe, find the ones they’ve lost.


	4. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis returns from the trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... so I haven't uploaded in more than a month, and I'm a fucking moron for it.   
> This fic is NOT dead. I repeat: NOT dead.  
> I'll keep working on this until it's over, even if I take forever to upload.  
> You have my word.
> 
> Now that that's out of the way, enjoy this chapter and leave a comment coz feedback means everything, even the constructive kind.

_ Something’s wrong,  _ thought Clementine as she stared out the balcony, holding onto her crutches for support, in what used to be the old headmaster’s office. Or what’s left of it, anyway. She couldn’t deny that kneeing Abel off of it during the assault was almost satisfying, even if she got dragged along with him, and especially when his leg was almost snapped in half.

But that wasn’t the current problem.

No, the problem was that Louis and AJ haven’t come back from their scouting trip yet. It was supposed to be a routine job.

_ “Be quick,” she had said to Louis, the both of them being in the office. “Take AJ with you. He’s got my binoculars. Scope the place out, and come back as soon as you can.” _

_ Louis nods. “Got it, Clem.” _

_ “And take care of AJ, will you? I trust you on this, so don’t fuck it all up.” _

_ The look on his face was serious as he nodded, turning to leave the room. _

A million questions barraged Clementine’s head as she tried to think about why they’re late. Maybe they saw a deer and thought to hunt it. Maybe they’re hiding out a small herd of walkers somewhere. Maybe… the caravan… she should really stop thinking about this.

_ Breathe, Clementine. They’re fine. They’ll be back soon.  _

God, that sounds like something Lee’d say. It’s like she told Ava shortly after she was kicked out of the New Frontier (which now felt like it happened a lifetime prior); she could feel his presence, guiding her, helping her. Now, it feels like she’s come full circle; she took care of AJ the same way Lee did for her. She owed it to Alvin, Rebecca, and everyone who died for her, to see this through, and she sure as hell isn’t stopping now.

These past few years were nothing but scavenging, surviving, and searching for a place to call home. After the Delta? It seemed like that time was up. The peace she was seeking for, all these years, was given to her… at a cost. The phantom pain still resides, but it was worth it. Worth it to finally find a moment’s rest. Worth it to finally look around and see the beauty in the world instead of looking at the fundamentals of what’s needed to survive. Worth it to look at AJ smile, to see him finally be able to have a part of the childhood he deserved.

She looks around the office. It’s certainly seen better days. Moss clings to the edges, and graffiti covers the wall. In the past few days, Clementine and Violet took it upon themselves to make the room seem… fit for command. The room was cleaner than when she first set foot in here, that’s for sure. A map lay sprawn upon the desk, with various markings scattered across. The leader took it upon herself to redraw the map Marlon had originally made, removing what Marlon had called the ‘safe zone’. Her eyes focused on one cross in particular: a cross that was labelled “CARAVAN” and was a good distance away from the school. From the scale of the map, it should have been an hour or two’s walk to reach the caravan, making it all the more reason for her to worry about their absence.

The screech of metal brought her back to her senses. Turning back, she looks at the courtyard. 

Everyone was in high spirits, more so now than a few weeks back. Aasim and Ruby hold hands at a bench, staring into each other’s eyes as they talk. They’d got together sometime after Clem woke up for the first time in days, and she was nothing but happy for them. Omar was stirring the stew, adding in what appeared to be herbs. Ruby and Willy took it upon themselves to bring the greenhouse up to order, harvesting some of the herbs in the process. If the stew was good the first time, it was going to be spectacular this time. Violet was nowhere to be seen… in the courtyard, at least. However, the gate opening had caught her attention, as Willy had climbed down the lookout tower to open it, revealing the two boys she’d been so worried about.

_ Oh, thank god,  _ she thinks as she grabs her clutches laid against the wall, and begins to hobble towards the door, pushing it with her shoulders. The clutches were a pain in the ass when it came to mobility, but it didn’t stop her from learning to live again. After all, she did have Louis and AJ to help out… even if stubborn pride didn’t let her accept it.

As she moves down the staircase, her mind goes back to thinking about why the two of them were late.It wasn’t typical of Louis to not goof around a little, especially with AJ by his side, but the both of them knew the gravity of the predicament they were in, so she was left feeling unsure. Wrapped up in her thoughts, she reached the doors of the admin building, but doesn’t notice her crutch hitting the frame of the door, and by the time she notices… she falls.

Right into Louis’ stretched arms. He looks at her with an amused smile, his eyes sparkling with that thing Clem can’t describe.

_ This seems… romantic. _

“Hey there, young lady.” he says, mimicking the voice of a Middle Age knight, albeit stupidly. “How do you do this fine evening?”

_ You had to ruin it, huh Louis? _

“Oh, I don’t know… wondering why it took you so fucking long to come back?” she replies, half playful, half serious.

“Not the answer I was expecting… but hey, I’ll take it!”

Louis helps her back up, supporting her in one hand, while picking up her crutches with the other. Clementine looks at him with a look that tells him to never say anything about it while balancing herself with the crutches.

“So… you mind telling me what happened?” she asks, somewhat concerned. Louis looks around, as if to make sure nobody was listening in, his face suddenly becoming serious. She takes a quick look around as well. Everyone was busy, either talking with each other or doing a chore. But AJ… looked distant. Looks like she’ll have to go have a talk with him afterwards; she knew what Louis was going to talk about was  _ serious, _ because he never looks… serious.

“It’s better we talk about this inside, Clem.” he says, voice low and direct.  _ Definitely serious.  _ Then his face changes, returning to the joyful boy she’d fallen in love with. “Now c’mon! I’ll help you in.” he says, a mischievous glint in his eyes.  _ Oh no _ . She knew him too well.

“Louis, don’t even-” Clem starts, only to be cut off by Louis sweeping her off her feet and carrying her in his arms, bridal style, letting out a yelp.

“I thought you liked this, dear!” he says in reply, looking amused at her reaction. She wasn’t going to say it to his face, but she did in fact like it.

Louis carried her up the stairs along with her crutches; he didn’t want her to get stranded in the office alone, he’s not stupid. Clementine just stared at Louis’ face in an almost mesmerized way, and before she knew it, Louis pushed open the office door with his shoulder, bringing her in. He let her place her foot on the floor and handed over her crutches. She took them and balanced herself, but not before pulling Louis’ jacket forward and kissing him passionately, with him having been caught by surprise and letting out a  _ mmph  _ sound against her lips.

Clementine broke the kiss, leaving Louis feeling somewhat disappointed that it had ended so quickly, and he swore he saw that in her too. They looked at each other for what seemed like forever, with nothing but the wind blowing nearby and the murmurs of those in the courtyard, until Louis broke the silence.

“So… I take it that you like being carried by a big, strong knight like me, huh?’ he says, almost fumbling on his words. The brunette laughs, the sound being sweeter than the piano;s music in Louis’ ears, and punches his shoulder playfully.

“Shut up, dork.” she says, smiling, before moving towards the desk.

_ Clem’s not worried anymore, so that’s a win for me,  _ Louis thinks, and moves towards the desk as well, following behind Clementine. He looks at the map spread on the table and stares at the dot that marked the caravan. Judging by the scale, it looks like a quick sneak and peek job with a quick return. Since that wasn’t the case, it only means one thing:

He’s fucked.

“Yeah, you’re fucked, Louis.” Clementine says, reading his mind. “What happened out there? And it better not be some random bullshit because this is serious.”

_ At least I tried. _

“So… we found the caravan…” he starts slowly, looking at Clementine.

“And?” 

_ Ah, fuck it. _

“We got caught.”

As expected, her face morphed into shock at what he said, and then anger at what he might imply.

“What the fuck, Louis!” she screamed, and then stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. “AJ’s fine, right?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, he’s fine.” he replied. “Before you ask though, they snuck up on us and put a gun on my head, but- woah, wait a second! Lemme finish.” he says, when Clementine moves to interrupt. “They just checked us out to see whether they could trust us, and then we met ‘em all. They’re good folk, Clem.”

She exhales a sigh of relief, and her shoulders relax. “Anything else? You find out where they came from? Trading deals? Stuff like that.” she asks, now curious. From her experience it wasn’t common for nomadic caravans to treat others with open arms, and she wanted to find out how they were different from the rest..

“I know they’re from a community, but I don’t know which one. But… their community were the ones the Delta were fighting against.”

Her eyes widened. “Shit.” was all she could say, her shoulders tensing up and her brows furrowing.

Louis knew what she was worried about. If they met the Delta’s enemy, it’d bring ‘em right back where they started; in a war they didn’t want to be a part of.

“The good news there is that they won the war, so we don’t have to worry about them coming back for us.”

“That’s good, then.” she replied, her shoulders relaxing yet again.

“And they agreed to a trade deal, tomorrow.”

She brightened up. Only this morning, she made Ruby go through their medicine stash, so that they’d know what they didn’t really have. 

Turns out that was a lot.

While they did have plenty of bandages and disinfectant, they were running out of medication, like morphine and fever medicine.

And they were also running out of ammo for whatever guns they managed to find from the wreckage of the  _ Fitzgerald.  _ The Delta were in a hurry to evacuate, leaving behind a good amount of supplies, even if some of them were scorched by the explosion.

“That’s great, Louis! We could trade some first-aid supplies for some medication. We’ve been running out lately.” she said, a smile forming on her face.

But there was something missing, something left unspoken, and as Clementine stared outside, she remembered seeing AJ looking into the distance, a slightly troubled look on his face.

“What about AJ? I saw him earlier and he looks… off. What happened there?” she asks Louis, seeking an answer.

Louis took a breath. He saw this coming as well. But he couldn’t exactly tell Clem that the two most important people in her life, who were supposed to be dead, were alive and kicking. 

However, there might have been another reason. Something that he himself has trouble wrapping his head around.

_ ‘You and your… uh… he your son?’ _

“So I mentioned that I got caught, right?” he started, speaking somewhat hesitantly. After he sees Clem nod her head as she reaches for a bottle of water, he continues. “Well, one of them asked me if… if he was my son.”

Clementine was drinking a sip of water, and when he said his part, she spat out the water in surprise, eyes wider than the ocean, coughing for a bit before staring at Louis.

“What?!” she nearly screams, more confused and astonished than angry, and Louis mentally sighs. The leader regains her composure, looking forlornly at the now-spilt water.

“What was your reply?”

“Well. I said no…”

“Uh huh. And how’d AJ take it.?”

“I can’t really say. He didn’t speak much on the way back” he said, his eyes not making contact with Clem’s, for fear of not turning to stone the moment he does.

_ That’s just stupid, Louis. _

She lets out a sigh, looking at Louis again, and this time, he takes up the courage to look into her eyes.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to talk to him before we tuck in.” she says, a tone of motherly concern coating her voice.

“Yeah, Clem… but I really don’t think I’m the guy best suited to this.” he replies, hesitance giving his voice a slight tremble as he spoke. 

“Louis…”

“I-I’m not the guy who raised him, Clem. I’ve never done anything for him, except treat him like shit after he shot Marlon! How am I…” he gestures to himself, “...supposed to be his dad?”

_ Wait. _

Did he just say ‘dad’?

She must have realized that too, because she stood up, grabbing her crutches, and quickly made her way to Louis, who’d frozen up like a deer in headlights, before grabbing his shoulder.

“You wanna know what I think?” she asks, her voice soft, and he nods in reply. “I think... that you are the perfect guy for the job.” 

His eyes widen in surprise, and she quickly places a finger on his lips. 

“Every time I see you around with AJ, you always find a way to make him smile. You’re doing something here, Louis. His whole life, he’s had nobody around except for me. I did what I could, but with what he’s gone through, I… I can’t even jump up behind him and see his face laugh when I tickle him.” She lets out a sigh. “But you? You’re teaching him something. Teaching him that no matter what happens, there’s always joy in the world. And that’s something I never could have done.”

She looked back at Louis again, and was surprised to find that his eyes were glassy as he stared at her. Suddenly he moves forward, capturing her lips in a passionate embrace. Words couldn’t express what he wanted to say, and what better way to say it than with a kiss?

They continued, the world and all its distractions being ignored. It was just the two of them, and that was all that mattered. Louis didn’t care whether the Delta decided to rise from its grave and come back here, nothing could stop them-

“Stew’s ready!” Omar shouted from the courtyard.

_ Damn it, Omar. _

She broke off, a mutual look of disappointment on their faces. They didn’t want to stop, but they still had AJ to deal with, along with the millions of “Where the fuck were you two?”’s they’d get if they came down any later than they had to.

“Thank you, Clem.” he said, a smile returning to his face. “Looks like we better join the others, hmm?”

“Well yeah, but my crutches take me too long to go down. Can I get… oh, I don’t know… some help?” she asked, smiling with a blush starting to form.

“Aha! I knew you liked it!”  


* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger.
> 
> More to come soon!


End file.
